After coming off a historic season last year, College Heights softball (with McAuley Catholic) returns a bevy of starters with sights set even higher in 2022.
“We are very excited,” CHC coach Mike Howard said. “Ever since we lost that last game, it left a bitter taste in our mouth. Diamond had a great game against us. … It’s been (a year) since then and we are ready to get back at it and try to repeat the success from last year, even more so.”
The Cougars are coming off a program-best 18-4 record and a district championship last spring. However, CHC did graduate three seniors (catcher Sarah Painter, 1B Layne Jackson and 2B Avery Good) who were integral in the success last season and will be hard to replace.
“We are going to miss all three of those losses,” Howard said. “All three of those girls were important to our team. … All of them were all-conference and all-district players and Sarah was an all-regional player.”
The good news is College Heights welcomes back five starters, possibly six, including four all-conference players from a year ago, which has the Cougars having aspirations for a memorable run.
Highlighting the list of returners is sophomore pitcher Maddy Colin, who was named the Ozark 7 Conference Player of the Year and was a first-team all-district and all-region selection. She carried a 1.62 ERA and had 224 strikeouts in 121 innings and also hit .375 at the plate to go along with 21 RBI.
Also returning for College Heights: junior Jayli Johnson (.500 BA, 37 runs, 20 RBI), who will transition to catcher this year after earning first-team all-conference, district, region and state honors at shortstop while leading the team in home runs (four), triples (three) and doubles (eight); sophomore 2B/OF Kloee Williamson (.579 BA, 31 runs, 29 RBI), also a first-team all-conference, district, region and state recipient; junior OF Addie Lawrence (.387 BA, 23 runs, 18 RBI), who garnered all-conference and all-district recognition; junior SS/OF Aaliyah Perez (.324 BA, 15 runs), also all-conference and district last year. Lauren Ukena, who was projected to start on the left side of the infield, is also back but may miss significant time with a shoulder injury suffered during basketball season. Sophomore OF Kaitlyn Bates is also back and is expected to step into a much larger role this season.
Newcomers expected to make an impact at the varsity level this year include freshman Libby Fanning, who figures to take over at first base, senior OF Avery Eminger, junior IF/OF Marley Woodford, sophomore Avery Shuemaker and freshmen Toryn Fink (IF/OF) and Callie Spencer.
“We have some girls coming in who are working hard,” Howard added about replacing the positions lost to graduation. “But, I think we will be able to fill those spots nicely.”
Perhaps the biggest strength for College Heights is their experience, and that’s only going to continue to grow. All of the returning players from a year ago are juniors or sophomores, which means the Cougars will run it back with nearly the same squad a year from now. Knowing they have two full years together has motivated CHC to waste any time on its goal of playing for a deep postseason run, which has been evident to Coach Howard by the leadership he has seen from his second-year players in practice.
“Last year was the first year for all of the underclassmen playing high school ball because of the COVID year (two years ago),” Howard said of his juniors and sophomores this season. “For them to come out in their first years and perform like they did, it just says a lot about their character and hard work as athletes.
“The fact that our returners are so athletic and knowledgeable, they are like coaches on the field. They will put the new girls in the right positions to be successful. I have already seen several times in practice where I have seen a veteran player coaching a younger player. … It is great to be able to have a good core of veteran players to help teach the process.”
Of course, aside from depth and experience with success up and down the lineup, CHC also brings back Colin into the circle after a dominating freshman season that saw her garner numerous awards and accolades, turning heads in the process.
“I can’t say enough about that kid,” Howard said of his standout pitcher. “She is one of the hardest workers I have ever seen and she is very humble, putting her teammates before herself. She keeps us in every game because her ability to locate pitches so well is unparalleled. She has gotten stronger and I think her velocity is up a little bit. The fact that I know I have her for three more years gives me goosebumps.”
College Heights opens the season with a home matchup against Galena (Kansas) at 5 p.m. on Monday at the Joplin Athletic Complex.
